It is essential that you have monthly maintenance cover for your website. Many web developers charge a 'one off fee' - Beware ! If something goes wrong with your website (or just as important your email that may be connected to your website) having took your 'one off fee' that same web developer may not be as willing as you would like to spend time (unpaid) to fix the problem.
Our monthly maintenance basically is to insure that your website and any associated emails are live and working at all times.
Also our monthly maintenance fee includes an annual revamp of your website in with the price!
Dont forget this all includes your new email accounts also!!!!!!! For more information on the email(s) that is included in your website click here
Many people complain that once a 'one off fee' has been paid there website can become 'stale' often being left without update for years.
With our monthly maintenance fee this is not an issue.
Not only do we make sure the site is live. We revamp once a year.
This charge is taken by standing order. A form will be filled in by yourself when you first set up your website by us. This enables us to collect the money you will need to pay to keep your website online.
A point of note is that you complete a standing order form NOT a direct debit. Many people confuse the two. There is a big difference between a standing order and a direct debit. With a standing order your bank will not allow any amount other than the one first agreed to be taken out of your bank. A direct debit (such as uitility bills Gas, Electric etc) is different in that the amount can be variable -- (sometimes greater). We do not ask you to complete a direct debit. The standing order contains details that can be found on your cheque such as sort code and account number. The bank will either contact you by phone or letter to authenticate the new standing order.
So for example in the case of our Silver Package (£25 per month) you will pay £25+vat per month (£28.75). This will be a recurring charge each month until you cancel. You can cancel at any time but you must be aware of our terms and conditions below.
Here is a step by step guide to how you can go live with your very own website and what you get for your money each month....
1. Step 1- 1 Hour FREE Consultation
You will have an initial consultation with one of our developers. Our office is situated in Sunderland. You can make an appointment at St. Peters Gate Office on 0191 556 1031 / 534 2003 / 07889 875 406. Or we can come to you. To gain full benefit from this initial consultation allow an hour. At this initial consultation we will ask a series of questions as to what you require from you website......
....such as .....
Do you require just a basic online presence?? ...Or perhaps a more complex site which will enable you to trade online????
We will show you examples of other sites we have built. We have been building websites since 2000 and our team of web developers have a lot of experience in each of the different disciplines within website design and development.
The first initial consultation is obviously free and no obligation.
2. Step Two - Decision
The second step is for you to decide whether to go ahead or not. This can be either at the first initial consultation ...or...you may wish to have time to think...either way at the point you decide to go ahead we move to step three.
3. Step Three - Standing Order.
Before we can progress with building your website we need to fill in the standing order form. The form is supplied to us by Lloyds TSB (our bank) . It is filled in and signed by you then we send it with a covering letter to your bank. The first payment date is one which is mutually agreed by both parties. This date is usually one month from when you decide to go ahead (or your first initial meeting). We ask for this commitment from you as we then start incurring expense on your behalf such as those detailed in the steps below.
4. Step 4 - Domain Name Registration.
The first thing we need to do before we can start building your website is to register your domain name. The domain name is registered by us on your behalf . If you wish to transfer the domain name to yourself as legal registrant we ask for the term of agreement to be brought up to date. The term of the agreement (and each new agreement thereafter) is 12 months. So for example, if we complete all the agreed work on your site (and it is on our Silver package - £25 per month) and you decide to cancel after 1 month -- we will only transfer domain name to you when the balance of 11 monthly payments (11 x £25 = £275 +vat) is paid. We will go through in detail at our first initial consultation the different types of domain name you can have. However we can not guarantee that you will be able to choose the exact domain name you want. But we can guarantee that for as long as you remain a customer of ours your domain name will be renewed as part of your monthly payment each year in the case of a .com or every two years in the case of a co.uk. You can have more than one domain name. For each domain name we carry out a search and register for you over and above the first name we register (which we include as part of the monthly payment - the first months payment being used to purchase domain name) we charge £25+vat. You can bring an existing domain name (one you hold already) with you , but in this case we strongly advise that domain name is hosted with us. This means we can accept responsibility for renewal and general maintenance of all the names and whichever site the domain name is 'pointing' at.
5. Step 5 - Website Design and Build.
We then design and build your website. It is very important to give us as much of an idea as possible as to the style of website you would like. This will enable us to have your website built sooner rather than later.
In the case of a Bronze package website we design 4 pages. (£10 per month +vat). These 4 pages remain static until 12 months time when we do a 'revamp' of the site and the 4 pages can change completely. Any work over and above the initial 4 pages will be charged at £25 per hour.
If you foresee many changes on a regular basis you may be better off upgrading to our Silver package.....see next...
In the case of a Silver package website we design 8 pages. (£25 per month +vat). This package includes a content management system that enables you to add your own content (such as text and photos) at any time from your own P.C.). We will spend 1 hour giving you training on how to do this. click for more info on this
In the case of a Gold package website we design 25 pages. (£50 per month +vat). This package also includes a content management system that enables you to add your own content (such as text and photos) at any time from your own P.C.). We will spend 1 hour giving you training on how to do this.click for more info on this
In the case of a Platinum package website we design a site that has the capacity to hold an UNLIMITED amount of pages. We do this using a website package such as OS Commerce or Magento that enables you to have many different categories or products , or categories within categories, or products within products!!! ...and so on and on!!!. (£100 per month +vat). This package also includes a content management system that enables you to add your own content (such as text and photos) at any time from your own P.C.)click for more info on this. We will spend 1 hour per month after the site has been built helping you in person either at our premises or your premises building and updating your website. This package also comes with a merchant account module embedded within the site. This will enable you to trade online. The are many different aspects to this package which include.....
6. Step Six - Hosting and Development.
Now that your website is up and running we need to manage it. In each of the above package the principles are the same....
* The domain name needs to be renewed
Why is it so important to renew your domain name?
So what happens then?
All of these points could be a hassle for you and your company. However, and we'd like to stress this point, if you don’t renew your domain anyone else can register it.
Likely? Well, yes. Statistics show that 15% of non-renewed domain names are re-registered by someone else within one day. Astonishingly 7.5% are re-registered within 10 seconds.
As soon as this happens, someone else will immediately receive all your web site traffic and the search engine rankings associated with your domain name.
There is no need to worry - we will take care of this for you!
* The site needs space allocated to it so that it can it has space to 'live' on the internet. This is done on a server.
* A server needs to be protected in many different ways. Viruses (often malicious) can attack your website and affect its 'downtime' . Downtime is the amount of time a website 'down' and not able to be visited.
* We use servers that run proven software such as Linux.
* We also pay for (on your behalf) and maintain the database(s) that in the case of the Silver package upwards hold all the updated information that you will be uploading to your website.
* We make regular back ups of your website (weekly at our end). Daily in the case of our hosts.
* Back ups are stored offline on DVD.
* Also covered are your email addresses that you will be allocated with your website. Maintenance will be carried out on these (such as checking if and when you reach your quota limit and advising you when you need to delete old emails - if this is not carried out new emails wont get through!)
* Our staff build up a knowledge of your business and its website. Therefore when things change it makes it so much more easier to deal with the person or people who built the site initially (and / or changed it year on year).
* Each member of our staff is trained not only to be highly proficient in each particular discipline within website design and development but to react with empathy to problems that may occur.
* We are contactable via many different methods...
You can visit us in person.
You can phone our office during normal business hours 9am-5pm.
In emergency cases you can contact Gary 24 hours a day on his mobile 07889 875 406.
We will endeavour at all time to do whatever is humanly possible to keep your website live and you happy as a customer!
7. Step 7 - Annual Revamp -
On the anniversary of your website being (and each 12 month period thereafter) you will have the following choices......
You can either.....
a) Have an hour long consultation as to how we can further develop your site. This hour will include your brief as to how you would like your website revamped. Once this is done we go back to Step Five.
b) Or if you are happy with your website and do not wish to change it you can let website run and continue with monthly payments. (You can of course obviously have the meeting at any point within the following 12 months).
c) Cancel your website.
If you decide to cancel your website you must be fully aware from the point at which you cancel we then obviously accept no responsibility for it. You will have to make your own arrangements for the continuation of your online presence. Once your payments are up to date we will assist you with your domain name transfer. Content of the site remains the property of NRG Digital Ltd.
Should you decide to cancel and return to us you can do so at any time. We will then transfer the domain name back over to our server as described in Step Four.
